CBC News Chicken bought at major supermarkets across Canada is
frequently contaminated with superbugs � bacteria that many antibiotics
cannot kill � an investigation by CBC TV's Marketplace has found.

CBC'S Marketplace tests 100 samples of chicken from across the country
for superbugs. Marketplace researchers � along with their colleagues at
Radio-Canada's food show L'Epicerie � bought 100 samples of chicken from
major grocery chains in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

The chicken included some of the most familiar label names in the poultry
business.

The 100 samples were sent to a lab for analysis. Two-thirds of the
chicken samples had bacteria. That in itself is not unusual � E. coli,
salmonella and campylobacter are often present in raw chicken.

What was surprising was that all of the bacteria uncovered during the
Marketplace sampling were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Some of the
bacteria found were resistant to six, seven or even eight different types of
antibiotics.

P.O.V.: Are you concerned about bacteria in store-bought chicken?
"This is the most worrisome study I've seen of its kind," said Rick Smith,
the head of Environmental Defence, a consumer advocacy group.

Resistance growsThe sampling results revealed that common
illness-causing bacteria had turned into superbugs that are increasingly
resistant to the usual treatment protocols.

MARKETPLACEWatch the full Marketplace investigation. How did
these bacteria become superbugs? Doctors and scientists told Marketplace
co-host Erica Johnson that chicken farmers are overusing antibiotics �
routinely giving healthy flocks doses of amoxicillin, tetracycline,
erythromycin and ceftiofur to prevent disease and to make the chickens grow
bigger, faster.

A representative of the Chicken Farmers of Canada group denied that
antibiotics are being overused. "I think there's judicious use that is going
on," said Mike Dungate.

But it isn't clear what the industry means by "judicious use." The
industry won't say how much antibiotic use is occurring, saying it doesn't
keep track. The federal government doesn't track antibiotic use by farmers,
and, unlike in Europe, there are no limits on the use of antibiotics in the
feed and water given to chickens.

While thorough cooking kills bacteria � including superbugs � most
contamination happens before the chicken is cooked through improper
handling. If there's contamination by superbugs, the worry is that consumers
could ingest illness-causing bugs that are then resistant to much of the
available spectrum of traditional antibiotic therapy.

For Canadians who think they're safe by purchasing organic chicken or
buying chicken raised without the use of antibiotics, Marketplace turned up
results in its sampling that might surprise those consumers, too.